Packaging a joint is a ritual for many people: cannabis consumers have their habits, favorite brands and favorite tools. Marijuana, papers and filters are the basic kit, the ingredients without which you can't even think of smoking weed.
Added to the trio is the grinder , an accessory that can be dispensed with without apparent repercussions on the quality of your joint.
There are many ways to grind weed for smoking, yet many smokers claim that using the grinder changes everything : the chopped herb is very fine, mixes perfectly with the tobacco and burns evenly.
This version is also confirmed by bong smokers, who need well-chopped buds for perfect bowls. It doesn't matter whether you use light cannabis or legal marijuana: using the grinder to chop the plant matter will make your joint perfect .
What is a grinder?
A grinder is a grinder for grinding weed . It is an accessory much appreciated by smokers, because it allows you to obtain a fine and homogeneous "mixture" , which will burn perfectly, without giving off any unpleasant flavour.
There are many types, both from an aesthetic and technical point of view. A grinder can be a rudimentary object sold for a few euros or a sophisticated tool, built with good quality materials.
On the market you can find plastic , wooden and metal grinders, manual grinders and electric grinders, cheap grinders and grinders that cost more than 100 euros.
Obviously the choice depends on how it will be used, how expert the smoker is and how sophisticated his palate is. For example, if you have to smoke light marijuana, the herb must be very thin, so that it mixes best with the tobacco.
How many types of grinders are there?
Grinders are distinguished based on the material they are made of, based on the shape of the teeth that make up the "grater" and based on the number of components .
A grinder can be made using plastic , wood or metal .
Grinders made of acrylic material are by far the cheapest on the market . They are made up of two or three parts and often also have a compartment to collect kief, the resin coming from the flowers.
Many smokers love plastic grinders, despite their very low durability: the plastic teeth deteriorate with use and after some time are no longer effective. Not having a space to collect the kief, plastic grinders become difficult to manage after prolonged use, because the resin tends to accumulate between the teeth.
These grinders generally consist of a lid and a grinder. They are not among the most effective grinders, although many smokers choose them for their beauty, especially when it comes to hand-decorated artisanal products.
These herb grinders almost never have a compartment to collect kief and their nail-like teeth do not optimally chop the more compact buds. As with acrylic grinders, kief tends to accumulate in the recesses and, after a while, even rotating the lid can be difficult.
Metal grinders are economical and undoubtedly also the most efficient. They have sturdy, durable and long-lasting metal teeth.
Handy and easy to carry with you, they are an excellent tool both for the occasional smoker who does not give up comfort and for the regular consumer.
A grass grinder can be made up of two, three or four pieces: the simplest are made of two pieces, two identical halves which, by rubbing, chop the grass; then there are those with three or four pieces, perfectly equipped to collect the kief. Let's see them in detail:
2-piece herb grinder
Two-piece grinders are the simplest grinders on the market and only do one thing, grind weed. They are small and easy to carry and never disappoint. Their simplicity makes grinding very reliable and consistent .
Three-piece grass grinder
Three-piece grinders add a container to the basic two halves. The container is used to store the herb that is deposited when it is chopped. Some three-piece grinders come with a wire mesh that separates the kief, the trichome powder with very high levels of cannabinoids.
Four-piece grass grinder
Four-piece grinders offer a dedicated compartment for storing kief and a mesh for filtering it . Other than that, they are the same as three-piece grinders. For those who grind a lot of cannabis and want to store the kief, a three-piece grinder can be very useful.
The last criterion for differentiating grinders is the one that tells us about the blades used to chop the grass . Depending on the type of blade we will have a more or less coarse mince and, consequently, a different smoking experience.
Flake teeth can be rhomboid or trapezoid in shape. They are considered among the best, because they are positioned very close to each other, and give rise to precise and extra fine chopping.
These blades have a pyramidal shape , similar to the tip of an arrow. They are very powerful teeth, but - being very distant from each other - they do not guarantee homogeneous chopping. Furthermore, the distance between the blades often allows smaller buds to get stuck and remain on the bottom of the grinder.
This type of blade has a cylindrical shape and is usually used in wooden grinders. As with the pyramid teeth, it does not guarantee very homogeneous mincing; to this he adds another con: being very thin, over time, the teeth could bend, preventing the grinder from functioning.
This type of teeth are actually real curved blades, which through the circular movement mince the product inserted inside them and allow you to obtain a homogeneous mince without too much effort.
There is another way to distinguish grinders: operation .
There are manual grinders , with a typical circular shape, which chop the grass following the rotation of the parts of which they are made; there are also manual crank grinders, equipped with a drawer, which chop just like a kitchen grater; and then there are electric grinders , similar to small blenders.
The grinding process is carried out by electronically operated rotating blades. The resulting mixture will be truly homogeneous, especially recommended for those who use vaporizers and bongs .
Classic grinders coexist with a tool that is certainly more rudimentary, but very comfortable and therefore extremely widespread: graters . Grass grinder graters are nothing more than cards that work like kitchen graters.
How do they work? They are used by rubbing the product against the serrated links of the card. They are not among the most comfortable means for chopping grass, furthermore the product obtained is never as homogeneous as that of a real grinder.
The great pro of graters is their convenience: they are kept in the wallet together with the debit card and the gym card, to go unnoticed at any checks.
